Conversations With Maine host Frank Ferrel sits down with Donna McNeil, Director of the Maine Arts Commission, and chief arts advocate for artists and arts organizations in Maine.

As Director of the Maine Arts Commission, Donna McNeil is responsible for overseeing the cultural well being of the State of Maine through support for artists and arts organizations. She joined the Maine Arts Commission staff in 2003 as Contemporary Art and Public Art Associate where she oversaw the advancement of artists through advocacy, grants, professional development and the percent for art program. Donna sits on the board of the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Maine Film Commission, the Maine-Aomori Sister City Council and the Governors Quality of Place Council. She has served as a juror for the National Endowment for the Arts and worked extensively with Creative Capital Foundation and is an active lobbyist for the arts in Maine and Washington DC. She holds a BFA in Painting from Syracuse University and a MLA in Art History from Harvard University. Donna has devoted a lifetime to the arts in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, holding directorial and curatorial positions in galleries, museums.